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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: shower · bark · tear · rash · current · fine · court · season

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. current — of water
  4. current — electric
  5. current — happening now
  6. tear — from crying
  7. fine — high quality
  8. season — of the year
  9. tear — from crying
  10. bark — to shout
  11. court — of law
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. court — of a king
  14. rash — hasty
  15. court — for sport
  16. fine — all right
  17. shower — rain
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. season — in sport
  22. rash — a series
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. tear — to rip

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com